Backblip
Today was our longest journey leaving San Diego for Scottsdale travelling for part of the way alongside the  Mexican border with the black wall and look out guards visible sometimes..  Much of the time we were in the empty Sonoran Desert with only an odd isolated community and irrigation channels using water from the Colorado river many miles to the north.  Towards Phoenix there were signs of more cactus including many yellow flowers and the tall saguaro cactus which is found only in Arizona.  it is slow growing and can reach up to 70 feet tall and may not sprout an arm until it is 100 years old. Many birds make their nests inside their tree-like trunks, The main photo is a bright palo verde tree.
We stayed the night in the old town of Scottsdale, popular with people who like to retire there for its climate